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PBS Newshour

PBS Newshour Features Xavier University of Louisiana’s Culture of Excellence

New Orleans La. - Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) academic excellence was featured in a PBS Newshour segment that debuted on all PBS channels nationwide, as well as PBS World stations internationally on Tuesday, May 8th, 2018. In New Orleans, the feature ran at 6:00 p.m. on WYES TV Channel 12 / WYES HDTV Channel 12.1, and at 9:00 p.m. on WYES World Channel 12.2.

The segment, part of PBS programming for Higher Education Week, includes interviews with Xavier President Dr. Reynold Verret along with several notable faculty/staff and student scholars. The segment is quite a coup for the small university whose tradition of excellence holds true today. Xavier, an institution of just over 3,000 students maintains its’ position as the #1 producer of African American doctors in America according to the AAMC. This ranking speaks to the exceptional performance in STEM fields at the University.

While STEM programs are nationally recognized at Xavier University of Louisiana, the university has an acclaimed education program and continues to work in that field as the recipient of a $13 million grant to train culturally competent teachers to better serve the needs of K-12 students in New Orleans. Additionally the school has a thriving Humanities program with nationally acclaimed Art and Music programs. Xavier maintains its’ position as one of the top three producers of Pharm D’s in the country. Xavier has continued to grow in recent years, adding study programs in Bioinformatics and Data Analytics, a Masters of Public Health, a minor in Afro-Caribbean studies, and a number of certificate programs and collaborations with other universities to expand offerings to students. As the only Black and Catholic University in America, Xavier is also home to the Institute of Black Catholic Studies, the primary international center for the study of the Black Catholic experience.

Xavier was recently ranked as the nation’s #2 HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) by College Consensus, a unique college ratings website that aggregates publisher rankings and student reviews, in its newly released publication, Best HBCUs for 2018. Xavier was also among the four colleges selected by Beyonce and her BeyGood Foundation as the recipient of a Homecoming Scholars Scholarship Award announced after her much lauded performance at Coachella.

That’s just the latest in national accolades Xavier has received as one of the best universities in the country. Most notably, XULA is ranked as the best value among southern regional colleges and universities in the 2018 edition of “Best Colleges” by the U.S. News Media Group. Xavier also ranked No.1 in its grouping, heading the list of only 15 schools that qualified for the Southern Region category listed under “Great Schools, Great Prices.”